Toilet bowl deodorizers and holders therefor



May 23, 1961 N. E. WILSON TOILET BOWL DEODORIZERS AND HOLDERS THEREFORFiled March 13, 1959 NORMAN E. WILSON ATTY.

United States Patent M TOILET BOWL DEODORIZERS AND HOLDERS THEREFORNorman E. Wilson, University City, Mo., assignor to The Pure Company,St. Louis, Mo., a corporation of Missouri Filed Mar. 13, 1959, Ser. No.799,322

2 Claims. (Cl. 4-231) This invention relates to toilet bowl deodorizersand holders therefor.

Deodon'zers for toilet bowls or commodes are usually constructed bycompressing paradichlorbenzene into a solid block around the ends of awire frame or bracket which is bent into a hook-like configuration sothat it will clip over the rim of the toilet bowl. The wire is usuallyof ordinary steel and, in time, tends to rust, leaving unsightly stainson the white porcelain of the toilet bowl. These rust stains areunsightly and impart an unsanitary appearance to the toilet bowl.Moreover, these stains are very diificult to remove with ordinaryhousehold cleaning agents and oftentimes, when the rusting has continuedfor a long period of time, the stains become permanent.

As may be expected, many eflorts have been made to overcome this problemby dipping the wire frame or bracket in paint-like material, plasticcoatings, and the like. These efforts, however, do not seem to have beensuccessful for the reason that coating materials flake off ratherquickly and never really form a satisfactory bond to wire which must beinherently flexible. Some elforts have also been made to mold framesfrom various synthetic resins or socalled plastics. All efforts, priorto the present invention, seem to have been unsuccessful for the reasonthat paradichlorbenzene is not chemically compatible with most plasticsand cannot be effectively molded therearound. It seems as if the vaporswhich sublime from the paradichlorbenzene cake have a deleterious effecton most types of synthetic resins or plastics. In addition to this,synthetic resins and plastics are, for the most part, relatively brittleand will break when flexed sufficiently to snap over the edge of atoilet bowl. In fact, most synthetic resins must be formed either bycompression molding or injection molding. As a result, these products donot lend themselves to convenient fabrication so far asparadiehlorbenzene deodorant blocks are concerned.

It is, therefore, one of the primary objects of the present invention toprovide a toilet bowl deodorizer having a mounting frame or hangingbracket which is rust and corrosion free.

It is also an object of the present invention to provide a toilet bowldeodorizer which can be made in a variety of colors and is, therefore,capable of conforming to the general decorative scheme of a householdbathroom.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a toilet bowldeodorizer of the type stated which is relatively economical tomanufacture.

With the above and other objects in view, my invention resides in thenovel features of form, construction, arrangement, and combination ofparts presently described and pointed out in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a toiletbowl deodorizer frame or mounting bracket constructed in accordance withand embodying the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a front elevational view of the frame;

Patented May 23, 1961 Fig. 3 is a top plan view of a toilet bowldeodorizer constructed in accordance with and embodying the presentinvention;

Fig. 4 is a transverse sectional view taken along line 44 of Fig. 3; and

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary sectional view of a toilet bowl equipped with atoilet bowl deodorizer of the present invention.

Referring now in more detail and by reference characters to thedrawings, which illustrate a preferred embodiment of the presentinvention. A designates a toilet bowl deodorizer comprising a somewhatsemicircular block 1 of paradichlorbenzene having embedded therein apair of substantially parallel arms 2, 2, formed of thermoplastic resincharacterized by a linear structure and relatively high densityresulting from the catalytic polymerization of ethylene gas at lowpressures employing supported chromium oxide type catalysts. This typeof thermoplastic resin is a polyolefin and may be referred to as linearpolyethylene of the so-called rigid type. The arms 2, 2, are firmlyembedded in the block 1 during the molding thereof and are integrallyprovided at their lower or embedded ends with rearwardly projectingprotuberances 3, 3. As will be noted by reference to Figs. 1 and 4, theprotuberances 3, 3, are arcuately rounded at their top margins and, attheir lower ends, project downwardly beyond the lower ends of the arms2, 2. At their upper ends, the arms 2, 2, integrally merge intoforwardly angulated ribbed sections 4, 4, which are parallel to eachother and, at their upper ends, merge integrally into a cross-connectingplate 5. The plate 5 imparts structural rigidity to the structure byabsorbing transverse stresses which would otherwise spread the arms 2,2, or, alternatively, push them toward each other and thereby weaken thebond between the arms 2, 2, and the paradichlorbenzene block .1. Inaddition to this, the plate 5 may be used for the purpose of displayinglegible indicia, such as the name or trademark and the manufacturer.

Formed integrally with and extending upwardly from the upper margin ofthe plate 5 are two short straight bars 6, 6, which merge integrally attheir upper ends with outwardly diverging connection members 7, 7, andthe latter, in turn, merge inwardly at their upper ends with rearwardlyextending top bars 8, 8. It will be noted by reference to the drawingsthat the members 6, 6, and 7, 7, lie substantially in the plane of theplate 5 and the top-bars 8, 8, are substantially perpendicular to theplane of the plate 5. At their rear ends, the top-bars 8, 8, mergeintegrally with inwardly and downwardly diverging members 9, 9, which,in turn, at their lower ends, merge into downwardly projecting back-arms10, 10. As will be seen by reference to Fig. 4, the back-arms 10, -10,are inclined at a rather acute angle forwardly toward the plane of theplate 5 and are, in turn, integrally merged at their lower ends with aU-shaped cross-connecting member 11, which is angled forwardly at aneven more acute angle.

As will be seen by reference to Fig. 5, the top bars 8, 8, and theback-arms 10, 10, can be flexed outwardly and slipped over the marginalrim r of a toilet bowl t forming a retentive hook-like structure whichwill hold the block 1 in depending relation within the toilet bowl t. Inthis position, the top-bars 8, 8, rest smoothly inhorizontal positionand will not rust or stain the porcelain of the toilet bowl t. Thesynthetic resin used to mold the hanger member in accordance with thepresent invention can, of course, be compounded with any suitable colorto match the colors currently in vogue for toilet bowls. Thus, thetoilet bowl deodorizer will merge visually with the boilet bowl so as tobe virtually unnoticed.

The linear polyolefin has unique properties in that it is completelyresistant to the corrosive action of water and ordinary householdcleaning agents, detergents, and the like, with the result that itis notharmed by water or such agents during regular usage. In addition tothis, the material has thefurther unique. property of being unaffectedby the fumes of paradichlorbenzene or'naphthalene which are the chemicalagents commonly used in molding the block 1. Most synthetic plasticmaterials which have been experimentally used in connection with toiletbowl deodorizers seem to absorb or be chemically aifected by the vaporsrising from the block 1' and very quickly become completely useless. Ithas also been discovered in connection with the present invention thatlinear polyolefins are completely resistant to the corrosive action ofurine and excreta, whereas conventional plastic materials are adverselyafiected.

It should be understood that changes and modifications in the form,construction, arrangement, andcombination of the several parts of thetoilet bowl deodorizers and holders therefor maybe made and substitutedfor those herein shown and described without departing from the meansintegrally including a pair of arms embedded at one end in andprojecting from said block, said arms merging at the other ends intolaterally extending top bars, said top bars in turn merging at theirremote ends 30 2,641,965

paradichlorbenzene, and hanger means formed of rigid-type linearpolyethylene, said hanger 4* into hook-forming back arms which arespaced laterally away from the pair of'arms, said back arms being joinedby a transversely extendingconnecting member which prevents said backarms from spreading relative to each other, said linear polyethylenehanger means being of limited flexibility and being capable of returningto the above defined shape after being manually stretched out of suchshape and released. i

2. A toilet bowl deodorizer comprising a block of compressedparadichlorbenzene, and hanger... means formed of a resilient syntheticresin which is chemically inert to paradichlorbenzene, moisture,household cleaning agents, and secreted body fluids, said hanger meansintegrally including a pair of armsembeddedat one end in and projectingfromsaid block, said arms merging at the other end into laterallyextending top bars, said top bars in turn merging at their remote endsinto hookforming back arms which arespaced laterally away from the pairof arms, said back arms being joined by a transversely extendingconnecting member which prevents said back arms from spreading relativeto each other, said hanger means being of limited flexibilityandbeing-capable of returning to the above-defined. shape after beingmanually stretched out of such shape and released.

References .Cited inthe fileof this, patent UNITED STATES PATENTS D.104,077 Miller Apr. 13, 1937 2,011,732 Saeks Aug. 20, 1935 ValenZa June16, 1953

